In the modern world, crimes and attacks committed by persons with guns are an ever more common occurrence. In decades past, police personnel and military personnel have been the primary targets of gunfire which has been directed toward them during work or duty. Because of this continual risk of harm, bullet resistant vests and shields have been developed which may be deployed or worn on the user's body as a protective component of their work attire. Such devices, when employed for protection against weapons fire have worked fairly well in preventing a high velocity bullet or shell from penetrating the wearer's body even if the bullet contacts it since the velocity is slowed considerably.
In recent years however, especially subsequent to attacks such as that on Columbine High School in Colorado in 1999 and on New York on Sep. 11, 2001, the threat of violence and injury due to gunshots has expanded to everyday citizens and students. Consequently, the risk to human life and health has occurred in venues where such a risk of death or injury from bullet wounds was never perceived to be a risk. In recent years, students attending colleges, high schools, and junior high and even lower grades have suddenly come under fire from attackers carrying and discharging firearms on school grounds. Even the military is not immune to unexpected attacks by gunfire as can be seen by the deadly incident in 2009 in a meeting hall of a large Texas military base.
While bullet-resistant vests and other attire worn by the military and police officers may provide reasonable protection of the upper body for such users, this type of device is not practical for students or workers or ordinary people as daily wear in a conventional domestic gathering such as a meeting room, classroom, cafeteria, office, or convention center and the like.
As a consequence of the last decade's escalation worldwide in terrorism and violence encountered by military personnel, police officers, students, workers, and other individuals, some form of protection should be made available to such chair-users which is readily available should the need arise. However, such a device should also blend into a conventional room appearance where people gather such as a meeting room, classroom, library or cafeteria and it should thereby refrain from making a room where people gather for social or educational purposes appear like a military bunker.
Further, such a protective device should not just be discreetly available to military personnel, police, governments, students, and workers, but should also be deployable to homes and other venues where occupants might feel the need to afford themselves protection against the risk of gunshot injury.
Further, from the experience of recent attacks on students in schools, it has been shown that students, and others, untrained in what action to take when faced with such an unexpected lethal threat from armed assailants, act in differing ways. Most freeze for a few moments trying to comprehend the incomprehensible. This just enhances their target status to the perpetrator. Some freeze completely and remain in place or fall to the ground in a fetal panic position becoming stationary targets. Others may rush away from the source, frequently to the far corners of the room, where no exit exists or to the only narrow exit, blocking it and preventing escape. Panic in such emergency situations in large facilities, such as has happened in cafeterias and convention centers, results in trampling others in their escape attempts. As can be seen, all of these untrained responses are counter productive to the threat of a gunman intent on harming people. Instead of providing protection or safety, the reactions provide grouped and easy targets for a gunman.
As such, there exists an unmet need for a device which blends into the room surroundings where occupants gather for group activity such as a meeting room, classroom, library or cafeteria. Such a device should be easily employed and close at hand for the occupants of the room to pick up and employ the device against an assailant during an attack. Such a device should appear as ordinary furniture in the room so as to maintain the ambience of a group setting. Finally, such a device when picked up and held by the user as a shield should concurrently provide the user a means to attack their assailant should they so choose, rather than to simply cower behind a shield and wait for the attacker to circumvent their protection.
With respect to the above, before explaining at least one preferred embodiment of the ballistic protection device herein in detail or in general, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangement of the components or the steps set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The various apparatus and methods of the protective invention herein are capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways, all of which will be obvious to those skilled in the art once the information herein is reviewed. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description, and should not be regarded as limiting in any fashion.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basis for designing other furniture type ballistic shields for carrying out the several purposes of the present disclosed device and method. It is important, therefore, that the embodiments, objects and claims herein, be regarded as including such equivalent construction and methodology insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.